7.28.2011

Dan's dad is one of the kindest people I know. He loves and serves God, loves his wife, loves his children and grandchildren and serves his community. Bob is a strong leader by the way he has led his life with honesty and integrity. He has built a wonderful legacy for his children which is his good name and reputation. I feel so honored to be a part of his life. He has been one of my secret hero's in my life and I just adore him! And no he hasn't died and it isn't his birthday...I just wanted to share with you a very special person in my life!

7.21.2011

Bei first named this bear Aaron...I don't know why. However it's latest name is Daddy...again I don't know why, except that they LOVE their daddy very much and they love this bear.

When I left Minneapolis last week in shock after hearing that Kai Kai Sweetie Pie is severe to profoundly hearing impaired, I repeatedly asked myself the question "Why am I always so shocked and surprised that my medical special needs kids that I adopted and commited to ACTUALLY have medical needs?" I remember the day that they told me that Bei needed open heart surgery? What!? Where?! When?! You mean this child I adopted with a hole in his heart and weighs only 20 lbs at 33 months needs life altering measures. Wow, I never saw that coming! I've told you all that denial and avoidance are two of my closest friends. My friend told me that I'm not about denial but I am an optimist! I like that! Honestly at this point, if I take Kai to his next doctors appointment and they tell me that Kai is really a girl. I won't be the least surprised. I will say "Of course he is and I will run to Target and buy him a few dresses and put his hair in pigtails. Seriously, how many more issue's can this kid have? The good news is that through it all he is one happy little kid!!

So I spent Saturday and Sunday being blissfully ignorant. I figured they will slap hearing aids on him and we are all good to go, life is easy peasy. By Sunday night I realized I better start my research and see what the reality of the situation will be going forward for Kai Kai Sweetie Pie. By the time I got done reading blogs and websites at 2:00 in the morning, I had a stomach ache. Bye Bye Denial and Avoidance and Hellooooo Reality. Monday morning I was still sad about what a hard road is ahead of Kai and how much work is ahead of him to learn a language. However, by Monday evening my sadness had lifted and I was watching Kai like a hawk. My mothers intution had taken over and he still didn't seem like a child that is severely hearing impaired in one ear and profoundly hearing impaired in the other. I called my Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor on Tuesday. He told me that he was surprised by the results of the sedated hearing test and that it was not congruent to what was tested in the office. He still didn't have the report from the audiologist, but wanted to go through it very thoroughly. I called him again today to say this diagnosis does not match my kid! The ENT doctor agrees with me. Yeah! He interprets the results as Kai is moderate to severely hearing impaired. It gives me hope that his learning curve for a language just became a little less steep if he is not profoundly hearing impaired. He still needs hearing aids. He still will need speech therapy. He will still need special services provided at school. We are hoping to have his hearing aids sometime next week. I still need to get to the bottom of why these the ENT and the audiologist are reading the results differently and what that means for Kai if anything. It may be as simple as searching for a new audiologist since she is the one that I am going to have an on-going relationship with.

UPDATE - The audiologist finally called me backand the bottom line is she said we are probably getting false positives from Kai. He knows our routine our life etc. I told her that the ENT didn't agree with the results and she said they probably got false positives when they tested him in the booth the first time. So I don't know what to think about it all. I guess it doesn't matter since the treatment is the same regardless if he is moderate severe or severe to profoundly hearing impaired.

THANK YOU to all the people that reached out to me! Don't stop! If there are other things that I need to know give me a call. I've learned that you learn the most from people who have experience with it. I also have appreciated the words of encouragement and support.

Jeannine - I agree that Nicole #1 is awesome. I also like Sharon and Joyful Mama/Cedar. There are alot of very good pictures submitted. I can't wait until next month!

7.20.2011

My friend Leah and her daughter Zoe are visiting from China. Leah and I spent several days together and it was like a cultural feast for me. One day we exclusively talked about China's adoptions, Chinese people views on them, the special needs kids, etc. She was even so kind to read some of my adoption documents like the boys finding ads. I really enjoy my time with Leah, she is such a happy and upbeat person. Her daughter Zoe is one month younger than Kai. She is really a sweetheart.

Kai took a hankering to Leah as you can see him trying to kiss her. He would not leave her alone so I finally had to pry him off of her.

I would like to say that I spontaneously took Bei's picture, but this is the pose that I got when I asked him to sit up straight so I could take his picture. Geez, some peoples kids! Anyway, Bei got his face painted at our first rock concert - GB Leighton. He is a local guy that is really good and happen to be playing at a mall plaza that we were shopping at.

Bei recently had some of his buddy's over for a little Wii time. Brian is at the far left and Big Kyle is in the middle.

Bei's beloved Elly came for a visit too! Elly and Julie brought a HUGE bear that the boys absolutely LOVE! You can see the bear's paw.

Kai liked hanging with the big kids too!

Jeannine - to answer your question in the last post comments, my new camera is a Canon EOS Rebel T1i. My only regret is that I didn't buy a camera like this sooner! Secondly, thanks for the compliment on the photo. I would like to take credit, but I am pretty sure it is the camera. If you have time, go check out the other contestants in the photo contest. There is one that stands out for me as the winner. Just click the Ordinary 8 button in my blog and it will take you to Nancy's blog. You will have to scroll down to the blog that is titled Picture perfect for July. Tell me which one you think should win after you check them all out. Love you lots - Liz

7.16.2011

Kai Kai Sweetie Pie would have to answer "No, but I will soon!" On Friday Kai had a sedated hearing test conducted and we were told that Kai is severe to profoundly deaf. I will be perfectly honest, I was shocked! Several days leading up to the test I was thinking it was going to be a waste of time. What I realize now is that little rascal is so smart that he learned to read my body language and read my que's when I would say let's take a bath, get a diaper, etc. Even today, there are moments that I wonder if they mixed up his results with another kid, but they didn't and he isn't hearing. Next steps are to get Kai Kai Sweetie Pie set up with hearing aids.

Bottom line is we look at this as a beginning for him. His speech is at a 5 month old level and he is 2 years old. He deserves to be able to hear and to communicate. The more I think about it, the more excited I am for him. Kai is such a curious kid with an adventurous heart that I can't wait til I hear what he has to say about it all! I just LOVE that little boy so much!

And I would LOVE to hear from any of you who know anything about the hearing impaired world. Success stories, resources, books, organizations, etc. Here is my email if you don't or can't write in the comment danlizk@comcast.net Also, I ask that you keep Kai in your prays that he has an easy transition to the hearing aids.

7.12.2011

There are so many wonderful blogs out there and one of them that inspired me to purchase my camera is called Ordinary Miracles & The Crazy 8. This stay at home mom takes breathtaking photo's. I went out and bought the same exact camera that she uses. I love it! Anyway, the lady from Ordinary Miracles has a photo contest each month and I am submitting my first picture. I have only had the camera for less than 14 days and probably took this on day 5.
What do I win? $50,000!!! In my dreams...just bragging rights, but fun just the same.

7.09.2011

My mom came from Chicago to spend the week with us at the cabin! It was wonderful having an extra pair of hands to help with the kids. I started to call her "The Dishwasher" because that is pretty much what she did all week. She and I had a few Code Red's while we were on duty with Kai. Kai decided that it would be relaxing for him to take a dump in his nightly bath. My mom and I were like Lucy and Ethel bumping heads and running in to each other trying to find paper towels. In the meantine, Kai got out of the tub and continued to poop throughout the cabin. What is it with 2 year olds and pooping in the tub?

We spent some relaxing time just hanging around the cabin.

Dan's parents came over on the 4th of July and Bei used Grandpa Builder Bob as a jungle gym.

Our cabin neighbors invited us over to play in their bouncing house! Sweet!﻿

We spent alot of time at the beach. Kai's progress in the water was amazing! When we got back home this weekend Dan immediately went to Menards and bought a pool that the kids can swim in. We both saw the improvement in Kai and want to use it as therapy for him. Bei is also becoming quite the swimmer. He can swim underwater pretty well, and is trying to master holding his head above water and swimming. He is doing pretty well considering the only lesson's he has received are from us.﻿

Kai and Dan spent time playing peek a boo and bonding! They are two of a kind...both hard workers...they are going to be best of buds as Kai grows up.﻿

Lots of lake time!

Do you notice a difference in my blog? YES! A new camera that takes much better pictures!﻿